“You have someone who wasn’t there, didn’t know about the case and they’re going to give an opinion as to why someone didn’t report,” says Disipio. “Let an intelligent jury decide whether they believe the victim or not.”

Pennsylvania was the only state in the union that did not allow experts to provide insight on similarities among sex abuse victims. Representative Cherelle L. Parker (D- Philadelphia) sponsored the law, which took six years to pass, and says it could have been helpful in the Jerry Sandusky and priest sex abuse trials.

“I do believe that those two high-profile cases brought the attention that was needed to get the legislature and the public to understand how outdated and antiquated Pennsylvania’s laws were,” Parker says.

The law was expected to take effect in August.

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Cherri Gregg is the community affairs reporter for KYW Newsradio 1060.
She reports on a variety of public affairs and social justice related issues, producing news reports, podcasts and other materials for KYW Radio, CBS-3 TV...